Oh, and because you were asking and because I’m all about being fair-and-balanced, here’s video of Pat Robertson praising Hume’s proselytizing.

They’re wrong (again), of course. You can indeed argue against someone’s personal experience and anecdotes. People misattribute positive experiences to a god’s grace all the time without evidence. And as time passes, the misattribution only grows stronger.

People who think god saved them aren’t purposely lying about their experiences, but there are always other explanations available for what happened in their life.

I know it’s supposed to be impolitic to say outloud on TV that you think that your religion is better than the other guy’s… but I can’t help but think that this is a tempest in a teapot.

I mean, other than “hey, look, Britt Hume is a raging asshole.” Which is, you know, pretty clear anyway.

But I wonder why it is that millions of people can go to church every week, SAY THAT SAME THING in church, but somehow play this game of ‘let’s all pretend that nobody ever says that’ when you’re not in your prayer meeting.

I think this whole code of “don’t talk about how your religion is better” actually enforces a code of silence about how despicable the views ARE. I think folks SHOULD be embarrassed that they hold the view that their friends and neighbors are damned because they hold a different philosophy. I think it causes walls between religions. I think it puts enforced polite silence in place of dialog.

I think it buys some short-term peace with the price of long-term divisions.

I think that if EVERYONE had to say every bad thing their church teaches RIGHT to their friends, neighbors, family and co-workers… a lot of those bad things would get openly frowned-upon and dropped from the curriculum.

Keeping them quiet hurts us as a society.

Let Britt spout his shit. Get it out there. Let’s discuss it.

http://religionvirus.blogspot.com Craig James

One of my biggest criticisms of religion is that God gets all the glory, even when a person has done something great. I wrote a blog about this a while back, about how three women I know each showed enormous strength and courage fighting abuse and sexism, but said they only did it with God’s help. I find it very sad that these women, and millions like them, couldn’t have pride in their achievements.

kuoyue

The satire they did last night of Hume’s Christian persecution complex was also excellent.

Ron in Houston

Let Britt spout his shit. Get it out there. Let’s discuss it.

Well, that’s the great thing about loud mouth ignoramuses. Britt has sort of cast a bad light those “you gotta have Jesus” sorts.

The problem is that Tiger is Buddhist. Buddhists are taught to not be attached even to their Buddhism. So, it isn’t like they’re going to rise up and go on a jihad against Hume.

Geez, if only Tiger had been some other religion….

TeddyKGB

The problem, Siamang, is who is doing it: a purported newsman on a purported news show. Airing his comments, not to mention interviewing him again on their news network the next day – would show that “Fair and Balanced” is, in fact, a nod-and-wink joke.

If Fox does some sort of faith roundtable with Brit Hume, a Buddhist, an atheist, a Muslim, etc. – then I’ll eat my words. (I’m not holding my breath.) Fox News exists solely to portray a sociopolitical agenda that, for the most part, exists only in the minds of its viewers.

Jamie

The snide remark about Buddhism gets spun into Attack on Christianity. They really can work miracles.

Revyloution

Siamang, the reason the rule ‘don’t talk about your religion’ came into being was simple. We began to have a pluralistic society.

In our not so distant past, people created their communities based on ethnicity and religion. Once they began to integrate, it became necessary to keep quiet about their faith. The reason is simple, religious dogma has no logical defense, so they knew they had to keep it quiet. If they turned religion into a ‘private matter’ then no one could challenge them on the oddities of their dogma.

Look back at the mistrust between Protestants and Catholics. These people used to wage wars against each other, but today they hold hands and sing kumbaya together. Were even seeing the beginnings of a merger between Judaism, Christianity and Islam. People are setting aside core dogmatic beliefs in favor of some nebulous ‘god’ that unities them all.

That also explains the rapid rise of secularism. Even the squishy pseudo-deism that many religious leaders today pedal needs to look embarrassed next to secularism.

Its no coincidence that all these changes are happening at the same time that the whole world is being connected by the internet. Loony dogmas like transubstantiation, or praying 5 times daily towards a black rock only seem normal when everyone else is doing it. Once you look around the room and see everyone staring, your’e bound to quit doing it.

Ron in Houston

I think Revyloution made a great comment. I don’t consider myself (well at least that) old, but I do remember a US where it was a big deal that Kennedy was Catholic.

It is easy to maintain your dysfunctional behavior when all those around you support it. I think things like the internet, globalization, and the changing demographics are causing a lot of change in how people approach religion.

Zarathustra

Well if Geebus died for my sins, then I can go out and commit any Damn sin I want, and by kissing Geebus’s ass I can be forgiven!!! What a COP-OUT! No responsibility taken HERE!!!!!!!!!

Siamang

I don’t disagree, Ray.

But in this way religion is distinct from culture: it makes exclusive claims.

But when your religious culture is such that (in the case specifically of Christianity), you’re self-defined as “completed Jews” or some such. Then you’re defining your religion as being in competition for the same claims as other, exclusive one-true-paths.

I will agree that the previous generation worked hard to get people to not talk about this stuff, which partially carved out a civic peace for minority religions in America, but now I think the silence has outlived its peacemaking function, and now serves to cloak extremism behind a smile and a wink and some dog-whistle terms used by politicians and ministers.

littlejohn

Oral Roberts is dead. Jerry Falwell is dead. Why isn’t that giant sac of pus Robertson dead? Clearly there’s no god, or he would have destroyed Robertson long ago.

muggle

All I could think of that second clip as Robertson was mumbling anciently is “Well, what the hell are you doing?” He was putting down claiming to know while claiming to know. It’d be hilarious if it wasn’t so stupid. The man was basically calling himself a fool.

Leave it to “The Daily Show” to nail it!

I think you have a point Siamung. Now they’re all culture wars, “God” vs. secularism. And we’re all going to hell in a handbasket because we’ve gotten so godless. And they all know who’s to blame for that! Back in the good old days when you didn’t discuss religion in mixed company for the reasons Revylution states, if people asked if I believed in “God” and I said no, they shrugged and said you think what you think and I’ll think what I think. Not any more.

Is it just me or is anyone else finding Hume in rather a trancelike state when he intones must have Christ? It’s getting creepier and creepier with every showing even with that stutter there.

And ugh that bit about his son’s suicide. It’s okay now because Christ has replaced his son in his life. No wonder Jr. killed himself. Maybe if Dad had shown him half the love he shows Jebus… (Okay I don’t know much about them but geeze can’t help but wonder…)

christopher

My first thought was this statement came as an ironic comment from some atheist saying, “all TW needs do is convert to christianity like some a-hole convict and he can skate-free, the funies will believe anything”. Unfortunately, Muggle’s last comment resonant strongly with me. In addition, if anyone had any illusions that Fox was any different that the CBN this should put those doubts to rest.

Jim H

It’s probably because I am reading this on my iPhone as the bus is shaking me, but I kept reading “misattribute” as “masturbate”, which seems strangely appropriate.

[stops acting like a 13 year old boy]

Donalbain

Imagine for a moment if Hume had said the exact same thing about a Jew. He would be off the air in a heartbeat. Bud, Buddhism is one of them weird, diffrunt religions, so this is OK.

Polly

It’s probably because I am reading this on my iPhone as the bus is shaking me, but I kept reading “misattribute” as “masturbate”, which seems strangely appropriate.

I was sitting completely still at my desk, and I kept reading the same, exact thing.

Mark

There’s a kickass Twilight Zone in which Robert Redford plays Death in the guise of a wounded policeman. His target is an old woman who lives in a condemned tenement, and she’s convinced that Death wants to get inside. She (apprehensively) lets in the wounded policeman, and their dialogue about her fear of dying, of leaving the tenement, of change, is just amazingly poignant. When she finally takes his hand (and dies), she looks back on her now-dead body, and wonders what all the fuss was about. In my view, this is how it is with religion: it’s an empty husk that you carry around with you all your life. Putting it down, facing the fear of what to do (and think) next, is terrifying. But once done, you look back and wonder what the fuss was all about…

Jesus Follower

Jesus is God in flesh. That’s what Christians believe. God has given Jesus His Son complete authority. He forgives sins, heals the sick, and gives eternal life, which is possible when God raised Jesus from the dead. To those who believe, God will save, but to those who do not believe these ways are foolish to them and that in the end will separate you from Him.